Research about student attitudes toward preservice teaching experience focused on two primary questions: (1) What do undergraduate education students expect from early field experiences? and (2) What underlying construct can be inferred from these expectations which may be useful in shaping future experiences? Two types of data were collected from two separate samples of students. First, 354 personal accounts of expectations were recorded by 197 students prior to having early field experiences. A checklist of 57 student expectations was developed from responses. A second sample of 291 students from 8 different college/university sources responded to the checklist. Factors were named to reflect areas of students' expectations for: (1) assessing the complexities of teaching; (2) modeling professional practice; (3) acquiring practical insights and ideas; (4) practicing teaching skills; (5) understanding a variety of school and classroom settings; and (6) dealing directly with students. An analysis is presented in this paper of responses to each of these factors. A discussion of the findings' implications includes the suggestion that preservice teachers should be clearly instructed about the purpose of field experiences and told specifically what to expect during each experience. (JD)